The story goes….Vincent Li isn’t the nicest guy. He’s had to do some bad things to survive in Oakwood. Not the best of neighborhoods. He’s thrilled when his brother Dante shows up. Been doing a stint in prison.

They’re on their way to go see Grandma and not looking forward to it. Bette is affectionately known as Grandma to many in the neighborhood and helped the brothers survive the streets when they were left on their own. She may look frail, but her tongue lashings are sharp as a whip.

Shortly after arriving and taking the heat from Grandma, they discover she actually has a real granddaughter, Elise. There’s no time to get into the fact that Grandma always said she didn’t have family because things go sideways.

Minotaurs appear on the streets. And other strange beings start emerging everywhere. Gates have been opened and creatures from another world are pouring through them, hell bent on taking over the planet for their own.

This is one of those books where the pace and action starts fast and never slows down until the finish. It’s filled with strange creatures and some genuine characters.

I’d have to say Vincent, Dante, and Grandma are my favorites. Vincent and Dante have a tight bond, not just because they’re brothers, but also because they’ve had to go through and do some bad things to survive. They’re rough around the edges, but fierce when things turn to crap.

And Grandma is a tough cookie. She may be in her sixties, but she’s full of spit and vinegar. Her tough love helped to keep Dante and Vincent from being statistics on a police blotter.

One other to add to the list is Flea. A pint sized enigma. He’s from another world and seems a bit clueless at times, but he comes in handy when things get ugly.

There are plenty of other characters, some minor and some major, that flesh out and add to the plot. Too many for me to mention here. And more than one storyline, which I’m hoping I’ll learn more about in upcoming books. This is the first book in the series, and I’m sure we’ll meet many of the characters again in the other books. At least those that survive this one.

With ghouls and killer sentient Minotaurs, along with some other mythical beings rampaging through this story, I’d tag this as an urban fantasy with a pinch of science fiction added in. Lots of action and danger and some well developed characters keep the plot moving fast and the suspense building. And, while this is a series, and the story doesn’t end here, there’s not a huge cliffhanger. You get answers along the way, and an opening for more.

4 Stars

~~~~~

Some favorite quotes:

“Have you ever known life to be fair? I’d say it’s a downright bitch.”

**

“Nothing binds us together tighter, nothing makes us fight harder, than a healthy dose of hope.”

~~~~~

Synopsis

Vincent Li always assumed he’d die in Oakwood. If the local gangs didn’t get him, then cigarettes and alcohol eventually would.

Now, he’s pretty sure minotaurs will kill him instead, and if not them, the ghouls dragging people into the dark will.

In the wake of an unexplained spike in homicides, a masked figure opens portals to another world—a world filled with dangerous magic and mythological monsters. Creatures that shouldn’t exist suddenly do, and they don’t mix well with humans. Vincent is trapped in Oakwood as the city is torn apart, but he’s no stranger to violence and will do whatever it takes to survive.

O.L. (Oliver Leland) Eggert has always been a reader of fantasy and sci-fi. His love of the genre spread to everything else in his life, so he ultimately became a big game/book/movie geek. He also enjoys the occasional anime.

He currently resides in the Silicon Valley with his soon-to-be wife and two dogs: Arya and Dexter. Can you guess which characters the dogs are named after?